Orono combo guard Nolan Groves receives Gophers offer and others after reopening his basketball recruitment

Orono combo guard Nolan Groves committed to Yale as a junior last year, but he wasn’t a high-major prospect at the time.

“I kind of grew into one,” the 6-5 senior said.

Groves, the 2025 Gatorade Player of the Year in Minnesota, recently reopened his recruitment and on Monday received offers from the Gophers, Wisconsin and Texas Tech.

In his last high school game, Groves scored 29 points in an 87-85 victory over Totino-Grace in the Class 3A tournament third-place game. Senior forward Brady Wooley, who also had 29 points, committed to Yale and reclassified to the 2026 class, but they won’t be playing together in college.

“It’s been a childhood dream of mine to play at the high-major level,” Groves told the Star Tribune. “It was a really tough decision to make [decommitting from Yale], but I had to do what was right for me.”

Groves, who led the state by averaging 34.2 points per game this past season, was excited to talk to new Gophers coach Niko Medved and is hoping to take an unofficial visit with the U possibly early next week.

“Niko Medved definitely sees me as a high-major prospect,” Groves said. “I’ve called him a few times in the last few days. Got to talk to him on the phone. I’m a big fan of his. I like what he does. I had a good first impression on him. Obviously growing up in Minnesota, there’s a hometown pull to the Gophers, so that’s pretty cool, too.”

But Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland, who went to the Elite Eight this year, will get the first visit from Groves this spring.

“I like what’s going on over at Tech,” Groves said. “They almost took down Florida, the national champs. Texas Tech had a phenomenal team last year. They have lots of studs returning and coming in out of the transfer portal.”

Groves, who hired agent Teddy Archer, called the recruiting process “chaotic” after hearing from several schools since reopening his recruitment.

Before starring at Orono, Groves remembered being overshadowed by other top players in the state’s Class of 2025.

He excelled for ex-Gopher Mitch Ohnstad and Minnesota Select, but they weren’t a shoe-sponsored AAU program.

“I felt like I went unnoticed and flew under the radar,” Groves said. “That motivated me. I’ve always had a chip on my shoulder to try to prove people wrong and put myself on the map. I’m a competitor.”

A lack of size and physicality once hindered Groves. That is no longer the case. His father taught him how to lift weights to build his frame, and he has added two inches and 30 pounds in a little more than a year.

“My junior year, I was 6-3 and 175 pounds,” Groves said. “My senior year, I’m now 6-5 and 205 pounds. A lot of people when you add that much weight, it kind of slows you down and you can’t jump as high. But for me it was the opposite. It made me more explosive. I started dunking almost every game.”

Groves has no timetable for his decision yet because the list of schools interested in him grows by the day. Class of 2025 Division I basketball recruits who have not yet signed can do so Wednesday through May 21 to enroll for the 2025-26 college school year.

“I’ve got to keep all options open and take every single option just as seriously as the other,” he said. “I really just want to make sure wherever I end up going is the right fit and best for me. If that takes a short amount of time or long time, that doesn’t matter.”